(a)Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being, or a fetus, with malice aforethought.
(b)This section shall not apply to any person who commits an act that results in the death of a fetus if any of the following apply:
(1)The act complied with the former Therapeutic Abortion Act (Article 2 (commencing with Section 123400) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 106 of the Health and Safety Code) or the Reproductive Privacy Act (Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 123460) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 106 of the Health and Safety Code).
(2)The act was committed by a holder of a physician’s
and surgeon’s certificate, as defined in the Business and Professions Code, in a case where, to a medical certainty, the result of childbirth would be death of the person pregnant with the fetus or where the pregnant person’s death from childbirth, although not medically certain, would be substantially certain or more likely than not.
(3)It was an act or omission by the person pregnant with the fetus or was solicited, aided, abetted, or consented to by the person pregnant with the fetus.
(c)Subdivision (b) shall not be construed to prohibit the prosecution of any person under any other provision of law.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
5,549
cases (
1,979 in the last 5 years), 1883–2026 · leading case:
People v. Breverman, 960 P.2d 1094 (Cal. 1998).
People v. Breverman, 960 P.2d 1094 (Cal. 1998).
· cites it 8× “" (Pen.Code, § 187 (1872).) For its part, manslaughter was similarly defined as the "unlawful killing of a human being, without malice.”
People v. Christian S., 872 P.2d 574 (Cal. 1994).
· cites it 8× “(a)), and (2) in refusing to allow expert testimony regarding the so-called fight-or-flight syndrome.”
People v. Gutierrez, 324 P.3d 245 (Cal. 2014).
· cites it 4× “(Pen. Code, §§ 187, 211; Veh. Code, § 10851.”
People v. Dillon, 668 P.2d 697 (Cal. 1983).
· cites it 6× “, an unlawful killing with malice aforethought (Pen. Code, §§ 187, 188), before section 189 can operate to fix the degree thereof at murder in the first degree.”
People v. Vieira, 106 P.3d 990 (Cal. 2005).
· cites it 4× “A jury convicted defendant Richard John Vieira of four counts of murder (Pen.Code, § 187). [1] An enhancement for personal use of a deadly weapon was found true for each count.”
People v. Franklin, 370 P.3d 1053 (Cal. 2016).
· cites it 2× “Defendant Tyris Lamar Franklin was sentenced to prison for a term of 50 years to life for his conviction of first degree murder using a firearm (Pen. Code, §§ 187, 12022.53),1 committed when he was 16 years old.”
People v. Cravens, 267 P.3d 1113 (Cal. 2012).
· cites it 4× “The court focused solely on the subjective component of implied malice and reasoned that "[a] single fist blow to the head does not involve a high probability of death simply because it occurs on pavement, and awareness that the recipient of such a blow might fall and hit his or…”
People v. Geier, 161 P.3d 104 (Cal. 2007).
· cites it 4× “(a)(2)), the murder of Erin Tynan (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a)), as to which a felony-murder special circumstance was found to be true (Pen.”
People v. Harris, 118 P.3d 545 (Cal. 2005).
· cites it 4× “A jury found defendant Maurice Lydell Harris guilty of the attempted murder of Bernard Canto (Pen.Code, §§ 187, 664) [1] and the murders of Alicia Allen and her fetus (§ 187), finding that he committed the murders under the special circumstances of felony-murder robbery,…”
People v. Rangel, 367 P.3d 649 (Cal. 2016).
· cites it 2× “(Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a); id.. former § 189.”
People v. Martinez, 74 P.3d 748 (Cal. 2003).
· cites it 6× “) Turning to an analysis of the Texas and California elements of murder, the Court of Appeal believed that the Texas requirement that the defendant "intentionally or knowingly causes .”
— Cal. Penal Code § 187(a) — 96 cases
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